The European Union aims to set up a central purchasing agency for critical materials such as lithium and rare earths and force member states to speed up permitting for new mines and processing plants. The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which is due to be publicly released on March 14 and was seen by Reuters on Tuesday, aims to ensure the EU has access to materials needed to meet the bloc's target of moving to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Source: Reuters